Maryland port administration

For the first time in 30 years, the Maryland Port Administration has acquired land to accommodate growing business.The port administration announced Tuesday that it has completed the purchase of Point Breeze Business Center near Seagirt Marine Terminal in Southeast Baltimore in a $55 million deal that will expand Seagirt's footprint to 356 acres.The acquisition is symbolic of a reversal of fortunes for the port of Baltimore, which in recent decades has struggled to remain competitive with larger East Coast ports in New York and Norfolk, Va.The port now needs extra land to help handle the growing volume of containerized cargo it's been seeing since the expansion of the Panama Canal. The widened canal gave the super-sized container ships carrying Asian-manufactured goods a more direct route to U.S. East Coast ports beginning last summer. Capitalizing on its deep channels and timely investment in four massive container cranes, Baltimore was able to offer shipping lines an alternative to … [Read more...] about Expansion of Port of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal moves forward

The port of Baltimore set new cargo records in 2017, handling 10.7 million tons of general cargo and the most containers and autos in its history, officials said.General cargo tonnage, which includes containers, autos and light trucks, farm, mining and construction equipment, forest products and breakbulk cargo, increased by seven percent from the previous years. It was the second year in a row the port has handled more than 10 million tons.“As one of our leading economic engines, the Port generates good-paying, family-supporting jobs for tens of thousands of Marylanders, and will create even more jobs and economic activity as its cargo operation continues to expand,” Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement.The port’s state-owned public terminals — already the top in the country for autos and light trucks — saw a 10 percent jump to a record 803,999 of them moving across its piers last year, according to the Maryland Port Administration.The port’s … [Read more...] about Port of Baltimore sets record in 2017 with 10.7 million tons of cargo

A Baltimore longshoreman for nearly four decades, Tony Revels remembers traveling to Norfolk, Va., to pick up dockworking shifts in the late 1980s and early ’90s as the changing economics of global shipping meant fewer ships and less cargo sailed so far into the Chesapeake Bay.“This place was a flock of seagulls and bare chassis,” Revels said of Baltimore, referring to the wheeled truck frames used to carry shipping containers. “Dead man's land — it looked like it was dead, literally. Not anymore.”From his seat 14 stories above the Seagirt Marine Terminal, the 57-year-old crane operator has contributed to what’s become a major turnaround in the last few years. Dwarfed for decades by larger East Coast ports in Norfolk and New York, Baltimore has seen the volume of containerized cargo moving across its piers surge following the opening of the expanded Panama Canal last summer.The expanded canal allowed shippers to send even larger container ships … [Read more...] about ‘Dead man’s land’ no longer: Crane operator has bird’s-eye-view of port of Baltimore’s growth

Fifteen years after the city approved a plan to build a Wal-Mart in Port Covington, beside deep-water berths and close to Interstate 95, the decision still rankles those who would reserve the waterfront for marine industries.With its mostly open spaces and industrial zoning, it was one of the few places along Baltimore's harbor that could accommodate new port-related industrial development that might create the kind of blue-collar jobs on which the city was built.But a new proposal to turn the land into an Under Armour campus and mixed-use neighborhood, privately backed by the company's billionaire CEO, would take the area even further from its industrial roots. This plan, however, is unlikely to provoke upset, many said, because it provides an alternative to the company expanding into port operations near its headquarters in Locust Point."Any place that's used only for beauty and not for practical purposes like shipping creates some problems in my mind," said Helen Delich Bentley, a … [Read more...] about Baltimore’s new economy meets its old one in Port Covington

Seven years after opening the South Locust Point cruise ship berth and terminal, Maryland port officials have a problem: capacity, as in, not enough.Without expansion, the record-breaking annual statistics will plateau at about 100 cruises and 241,000 passengers a year.It is a profitable perch, but not one that fits the port of Baltimore's competitive nature or record of expanding market share wherever it can — from autos to coal. And with an annual economic value to Maryland estimated to be $90 million and 220 jobs, the cruise ship business is an asset worth protecting and continuing to develop.Despite recent problems, including Thursday's stranding of a cruise ship at a dock in St. Maarten after an apparent generator failure, cruise demand keeps expanding.Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas ties up at Baltimore's single berth each Saturday morning to disembark 2,200 or so passengers and take on a like number in the afternoon for cruises to Bermuda and the Caribbean. … [Read more...] about After record growth, Maryland cruise terminal at capacity